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Mojito Jelly-O

June 20, 2008

Him: what are you making?Me: Gelee de MojitoHim: translation?Me: I don't know, kind of like Mojito jello but not the packet thingieHim: then why don't you call it that ?Me: be glad I did not call it "aspic"Him: sounds like it could hurtMe: not funny, I did not write the culinary language of my country, allright?!Him: so what is this...really...?Me: how about Mojito Jelly-O ?!

Almost every weekend we gather with the neighbors outside by the creek. Rain or shine, hot or cold. Same backyard all those years...don't know how that happened, it just did. One Saturday evening three years ago, we were all chatting outside when I said "I'd better go check on my cake", C. said "I'd better go check on the chili" and J. said "I think the boy is bringing oysters"....and the rest is history: the men set out a long wood plank on saw horses outside and we all brought down what was in the oven or on the stove that evening and shared, grown up beverages and good laughs included.

We can't always get together on the weekends because of holidays and guests, etc...Foods vary with the season and the sea but when we do you can be sure of one constant: C's jello-shooters....don't ask me why, but she made it her duty to provide a different one each time. Except that this weekend she passed the baton on to me when I said that we should have Mojitos instead for cocktails given the massive quantity of mint I have growing. I am not a big jello shooter fan (heck! Ask any fellow expat if they know the packet brand and unless they have been here before, they will probably look at you funny), but I know it's her thing so I tried to come up with a Mojito Jelly-O instead of just a cocktail.

Obviously, if you do not like gelatin based dessert you will not like this one and if you do not like Mojitos or alcohol, you will probably have to pass too, but if you do.....for all of you ready for the weekend, these will make you very very happy! I had to take a few bites for the pictures and I got very relaxed at eleven in the morning which makes me think that tonight is going to be very good!

For the jelly, I'll let you pick your own brand of white rum and you can replace the gelatin with agar agar or vegetarian gelatin if available. I am not an expert on the agar but from what I have found prior to posting this, it seems that the same quantity would work instead of the gelatin, but don't take my word for it.

Pour the gelatin in a small ramequin and sprinkle 1/4 cup of water over it. Allow it to dissolve, set aside.Zest one of the limes, set the zest aside, juice all the limes to obtain about 1/2 cup. Squeeze another one if necessary to obtain 1/2 cup. Set aside. Chop the mint finely and set aside.In a medium saucepan set over medium high heat, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of water and sugar bring to a boil just until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the gelatin, stirring until it is completely dissolved. Add the rum, lime juice, lemonade and the mint.Pour in 4 glasses or ramequins and let set in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight. Decorate with mint and lime slices if desired.

Did not notice how "effective" these were:water+gelatin in the ramequins and water and sugar in the saucepan.Thanks for alerting me!Baking is really within your reach, just take a step back and a deep breath :)

I envy you living in a place where there's such a strong community feel..I live in an apartment in the city, so no backyards, no creeks and no one to share the spoils of an afternoon of baking. sigh...that mojito jelly alone wishes that I live next by your house...

Heaven in a glass!!! and yes heaven to me will taste like Mojitos!!! Had an amazing mojito at a food festivel in Dublin last weekend and have been thining about then since, must get out the gelatine!!!

With lemonade you mean lemonade made from lemons or with a lemon taste, right? In The Netherlands, lemonade is a common name for all sorts of syrup that you can mix with water for a drink and they come in all sorts of flavours. I just want to make sure, because the recipe looks wonderful and I'm thinking of making it for our annual end-of-year party at work, but serve is slightly smaller portions though :)

Jeez Helen, you sure do know how to make a person want to run away from work to bake/concoct something "right now!" :) Thank you once again for a refreshing glimpse of how life should be. All the best, Bri

wow, this is awesome! I have been checking your new posts almost on a daily basis...but I'm going through a completely blogging-procrastination period (including not posting on my own blog) so I'm admiring your recipes & photos in silence :-) Everything is absolutely beautiful & delicious looking!

alright, i tried it with agar agar last night so here's my experience (bear in mind that I have only used agar a few times so it may be possible to get very different results).

I followed the recipe exactly - I had read that agar was a bit stronger than gelatin but had also read that you could do a straight substitution, and with the acidity of this dessert I thought that was a safe option. So i added the agar to the sugar syrup and continued heating until it had dissolved which is the usual agar instructions. It was already noticeably thickening so I thought that was good.

Then I added the lime and rum and it was fine, then the lemonade... this caused it to fizz up and the liquid became lumpy - i guess maybe the carbonation of the lemonade made it form into small bits? i kept whisking it and it subsided a little but was still not smooth, so i used a stick blender which helped, but it still ended up a bit lumpy (not bad though).

Perhaps american lemonade isn't bubbly? In australia we use "lemonade" for sprite-kind drinks but i think americans use lemonade for lemon-flavoured drinks. Also, i think the limes I used were strong because it was a bit overbearing overall (and i love sour!). But a big success when served with a bit of icecream to smooth it out and give a bit of contrast.